Yesterday(March 21st), at the Aviation & Environment Summit 2012 in Geneva, the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) launched a new report highlighting aviation’s essential contribution to European and global economies.
Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders, developed by consultancy firm Oxford Economics, compiles country-level reports to create the most comprehensive global picture of the economic and social benefits of air transport available today.
“This report is timely and eye-opening,” said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). “Aviation has a vital role to play in Europe’s economic recovery, contributing $749 billion to European GDP and supporting 8.7 million jobs. We need our regulators to seize this potential by working with the industry to reinforce and strengthen Europe’s global role.”
At global level, aviation supports 56.6 million jobs and its worldwide economic impact is estimated at $2.2 trillion. To put these figures in context, if the air transport industry were a country, it would rank among the G20 nations.
Commenting on the launch, ATAG Executive Director Paul Steele said: “While the number of jobs and GDP supported by aviation in Europe and around the world is impressive, it is also important to remember that aviation’s benefits spread far beyond the numbers themselves. From the connectivity that aviation makes possible to the links with friends and family, to the businesses that rely on the speed of air transport, it truly is an important part of modern life around the world. European unity and cohesion also benefits from these connections.”
The summary on Europe is available at:
http://files.aea.be/Downloads/Avia_Ben_Key_Fac.pdf
The full report is available at: http://www.aviationbenefitsbeyondborders.org/.
